Rosalia Virus
"Beginning..." -Rosalia Rossellini The Rosalia Virus is the "main villain" in the game Trauma Team. During the course of the game, odd symptoms crop up in patients in the initial chapters, with symptoms such as severe hemorrhaging, vomiting blood, convulsions, cardiac arrest, unexplained soft tumor formation, and a unique black bruise that forms over affected areas. The virus has the side effect of affecting the mental stability of its victims if it infects the nervous system, causing auditory and visual hallucinations. It turns into a deadly pandemic in the "Chapter Seven" portion of the game, which is focused on what caused it, how it spread, and how to stop it. History The Rosalia Virus is a fictional Group V RNA virus of the Filoviridae family, much like other hemorrhagic fever-causing agents like the Marburg and Ebola viruses. The virus is named after Rosalia Rossellini, the asymptomatic host of the blood in which was first found by Albert Sartre. The virus is capable of surviving in the body of its host long after death, while also multiplying and retaining its virulent nature. This is assumed to be because of its unique composition of nucleic acid, making it a new type of organism. This quality was what piqued Sartre's interests, and he hoped to reengineer the virus to selectively attack only malignant cells, effectively putting an end to all disease. However, in its original and fundamental state, it spreads ruthlessly, attacking both healthy and infected cells. In researching this possibility, Sartre accidentally caused the Cumberland College Incident, after which his adopted son and lab assistant, Erhard Muller (known as CR-S01 by his prison serial no.) was left to be framed and convicted of causing the "bioterrorism attack" at Cumberland college. Sartre likely did this out of desperation to escape to Mexico with Rosalia and continue researching the virus, believing the incarceration of his son to be a small price to pay if he could successfully finish his work on the virus. However, he was unable to harness it before becoming infected by it, causing him to lose his sanity. Realizing there was no hope to redirect the virus' malignant nature, Sartre shot and killed Rosalia in the fields outside their home, believing that her death and the extermination of the host would prevent the spread of the virus. Ironically, this did not halt the spread of the disease, but rather jumpstarted the pandemic which later followed; the virus was not transmitted by air, but instead spread through contact with mucous membranes. When Rosalia was shot, her infected blood was absorbed into the soil and Asclepias flowers around her, which served as a new host for the Rosalia Virus. Monarch butterflies feeding on the flowers became the vector of the disease, and on their migration route north along the eastern coast of the United States, showered the virus as they shed their scales. Progression of the Infection The Rosalia Virus, being a hemorrhagic fever, is capable of killing patients in a matter of days. It has two stages in development, both a dark (undetectable) and active phase. The Dark Stage involves the cells fragmenting, slowly infecting its host. This stage cannot be confirmed by any means, making treatment virtually impossible. However, unexplained or abnormal tumor formations can act as an indicator for this stage, as exhibited in two of the patients in the Diagnostics section of the game. The tumor suppressant gene is inhibited at this stage, allowing these barely noticeable tumors to form. Then, the virus-infected cells replicate, forming unique, malignant tumors, generally on the outside of the organs. Once the virus replicates itself enough, it then moves onto the active phase. The virus, which was fragmented in the Dark Stage, merge together to recreate its full form. This form attaches to organs and blood vessels, forming colonies on the body. These colonies have a distinct, smooth, gem-like texture which are black, red and purple in color. A concentration of these colonies develop into bruise-like clusters forming on the exterior and interior of organs in the later part of this stage. Once a colony reaches a certain size, the tumor bursts, metastasizing and further infecting other parts of the body. This metastasis spreads the virus uncontrollably and indiscriminately, causing it to travel all over the body. Massive bleeding begins from any orifice in the body, including the eyes. This mass infection, as well as the loss of organ control and vital signs that follow, ultimately kill the patient. It is stated that the patient will only last three days at most after the colonies' explosion, since tumor/colony excision will not eradicate the virus. Treatment Treatment methods vary in the stages of the viral infection, along with the methods and body areas involved. The table below shows the treatment procedures by game mode. Twisted Rosalia When Naomi Kimishima is infected with the virus, it interacts with her terminal genetic disease, mutating into the Twisted Rosalia superinfection. However, due to the pervasive nature of the Rosalia Virus, it effectively incorporates the existing disorder and makes them into one entity--removing one, removes them both. When CR-S01 successfully treats the Twisted Rosalia with some advice from Derek Stiles, Naomi is fully cured. The Twisted Rosalia takes the form of a monarch butterfly larva, curled up as if it is in its pupa stage. Treatment The Twisted Rosalia is a giant virus colony within the heart, and first has to be treated in the four chambers of the heart to prevent the colony from bursting. To begin treatment in each chamber, an incision needs to be made similar to the initial entry incision of the operation. Upon zooming into each chamber, there will be a closeup of the main colony's outer shell, along with a few extensions of the colony. The outer shell can be damaged by the laser, but if a portion of the shell is destroyed while a colony extension is present, the shell will immediately regenerate. Thus the colony extension has to be drained first, before being injected with the blue vasoconstrictor, then the orange deactivator. The player then needs to excise and remove the extension to safely destroy the outer shell. Once the outer shell is destroyed with the laser, the main body can be injected with the purple gelator to reduce its activity. Work quickly to inject the gelator into all portions of the main body, as the colonies (and the shell) will regenerate over time, nullifying your efforts at injecting the main body. As the player works around the main body, more colony extensions will need to be dealt with, and breaking pieces of the shell will create lacerations, which need to be sutured, and leave behind shards which must be extracted. While working on the main body, small colony cells will slowly drift towards the extensions in an attempt to extend the main colony. These must not come into contact with the extensions, and are removed by draining them. Furthermore, if they come into contact with the fragments of the outer shell, they will form a bruise. This will need to be treated with the pink antiviral drug, and will lower the vitals cap slightly. Finally, the time has come to treat the main body. First, inject the black cardioplegic solution to stop Naomi's heart - this will cause both the current vitals and the vitals cap to begin plummeting. The protective membrane around the main body needs to be excised and removed quickly before Naomi flatlines, and the finishing blow must be dealt with about two full syringes of the brown antiserum. This will destroy the virus for good. Trivia *It is often wondered how some of the earlier victims (like Veronica Cage and Sandra Lieberman) of the Rosalia Virus know of "Rosalia". Since the virus affects one's mentality and sanity, it is possible that they know the name "Rosalia" through visual or auditory hallucinations. *If one listens closely to the background music played during Rosalia treatment for the First Response, Surgery, Endoscopy, Diagnostic and Orthopedics fields, one may notice that the 5 tracks have a recurring short riff. *The whole concept of the Rosalia Virus was based off of a virus called Ebola (viral hemorrhagic fever), and much like Rosalia, spreads through contact with bodily fluids and is often hosted in animals. However, it may be possible that it was also inspired by the H1N1 virus (swine flu) since both Rosalia and the H1N1 virus originated in Mexico. While the Swine Flu spread through out the whole world, the Rosalia Virus was only spread to America. Since Trauma Team was annouced during the pandemic and was released after the news about the virus died down, it may be a either a coincidence or it might be paying a tribute. *During the very first mission in the First Response episode, the Rosalia bruise can be spotted under the shirt of one of the patients. This is likely the cause for the mysterious convulsion that occurs during the episode. Strangely, the bruise looks different than what is seen through out the whole game. *Even though most victims who got infected with the virus usually have one bruise, some of them have more than one. Samuel Trumbull has two bruises, Sandra Lieberman has six and Veronica Cage might also have two because of where the discoloring is on her skeletonized corpse. Category:Diseases Category:Trauma Team